BlackBerry admits massive outage in Europe and Africa

Yeah we thought we would just like to remind you how dependent you have all become on technology by having a little time out.

The maker of the BlackBerry smartphone said that email services had been restored to users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but some might still have messaging and browsing problems.

Canada-based Research in Motion earlier confirmed widespread service outages for its users this those areas, without giving the cause of the problem.

Many users had reported not being able to receive or send email, or use instant messaging, or being able to browse the internet, though the problems did not appear to be the same for each user, or affect all users.

“As an update, we can confirm that BlackBerry email services have been restored, RIM said in a statement.

“Some customers may continue to experience delays with instant messaging and browsing services and our technical teams are working to return services to normal operation as quickly as possible.

“We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience and we will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.”

RIM has struggled this year with weaker sales of the BlackBerry smartphone against rivals like Apple’s iPhone, various models from HTC, and other handsets running Google’s Android software.